Platforms: Pc Exclusive
Developer: Bioware
Publisher: Electronic Arts.
I'm splitting this review into two parts, this first is the initial imperssions of the core game. After this once I reach the endgame I'll provide a review of the Payer versus Player and the dungeons on offer.
The Old republic, many claim it’s
the World of Warcraft killer we’ve been hoping forever for. While the game is
still in its infant stages and the community is still a toddler by Massively Multiplayer Online game (MMO for those too lazy to type.)
standards, the game is already dam impressive. The problem one faces reviewing a MMO is as always the World of Warcraft comparisons. Alhough the two games feel remarkably similar ill try and stay as far away from comparing them as I can.
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| GAAAARH!. |
The game has you choosing between
the Sith empire or the Republic at the start screen and from there you enter character creation.
While the characters are all exquisitely detailed one can’t help but feel they
are somewhat of a wasted opportunity all being humanoids with varying degrees
of strangeness, the hardcore Star Wars fan will feel let down by the absence of
no Wookies or Jawas, but there is always expansions to rectify this.
After tinkering with your character’s
appearance it’s time to choose your class. While the classes sport different
names on either sides they are in truth still counterparts of each other. Your ways to play have surprisingly, a lot of
diversity in them. Ranging from the Slashing and force powered antics of the
Jedi knight to the trickery and vicious bursts of lightning of the Sith Inquisitor.
Also present are a set of four non force powered characters including
Smugglers, Bounty Hunters and Imperial Agents, which finally provide a insight into
a set of characters that fans have regrettably not seen much of.
After playing the Old Republic I
promise that you’ll never play an MMO as story driven as this for a long while
to come. Each class has its own enormously long, unique and personal story full
of winding twists and turns, Ranging from the Republic’s story of a desperate
battle against the Sith, to the political backstabbing and betrayal of the Sith
are known for.
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| Do the Sith look menacing enough? |
The game weaves a great story
begging players to play all eight classes story’s through, which Bioware claims
can stretch up to a 100 hours each
If you (like me) played a lot of
World of Warcraft in your time, the gameplay will fell comfortably at home but
radically improved. Combat animations and abilities look great and really feel
like they can do some damage to your opponent, with single target and area of
affect abilities in plenty of supply, you’ll be challenged to find a situation where
you have nothing to attack with.
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| Glowsticks of Destruction |
The game does a great job of
introducing itself, with intro quests that make it easy to get the grasp of and
plenty of odd jobs to keep your character’s pockets full of cash and your
fingers clicking furiously. The quests are your standard MMO fare of go there
kill ten of that then gather five chickens come back and do a silly dance for
me, but it’s the way the Old Republic gives them to you that sets it apart. The
entire game is voiced, eliminating the horrible task of reading, and cut scenes
come in full force and has the player making choices along the way that will
influence the forthcoming events.
These choices then in turn influence your
alignment (which influences character appearance and what gear the player can
equip for example Lightsaber crystals.), which seems a tad unnecessary seeing
as you already chose between good and evil at the start of the game.
The game is though undoubtedly though,
the finest Knights of The Old Republic we’ve ever seen (with an emphasis on
multiplayer of course). It even has you recruiting party members which
accompanies well with your character’s play style and with whom you can build a relationship with.
Jedi Knights for instance, that
prefers to charge in and slice and dice their way through enemies get a Droid
that provides blaster fire from range. While the Sith Inquisitor boasts a large
brutish creature that threatens to eat everyone throwing a crooked loot at you.
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| The Republic Commando class comes as always with his overcompensating boomstick. |
After playing for a few hours and
reaching level ten, your character will be met with the choice of class specialization,
where you are met with the choice of going down two paths each supporting a
different play style. Inquisitors for example get to choose between Sorcerer
(which has you dishing out damage at range with a variety of force powers) and
Assassin (which has you sneaking up behind enemies with the always popular double
bladed Lightsaber.)
All in all this a great Role Playing game but only time will tell of its success as a full fledged MMO.
Bottom line: Bioware has once again proved themselves masters of the RPG genre. and have provided a game that promises to breath new life into the MMO sphere.
THE
GOOD
+
Great
Graphics
+
Excellent
story that is fully voiced
+
Fast
growing fan base
+
Eight
long and uniquely diverse stories
+
Superb
animations
+
Good
Diversity in classes
THE
BAD
- Unnecessary
Alignment system
-More
variety is needed in character races
Score:86%
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